This invention relates to apparatus for carrying infants and small children, and more particularly to a carrier adjustable for alternative use as a stroller and as a protective seat for a child in an automobile.
Carriers for infants and small children are universally recognized as a means for enhancing the safety and comfort of small children, while increasing the convenience of adults caring for the children. One such device particularly well suited for pedestrian trips, known as a stroller, includes a shell or fabric structure with a generally horizontal leg rest to support the legs and seat of the child, and a back rest generally upright or slightly backwardly inclined. A frame and wheels support the shell for convenient movement over a sidewalk or other horizontal surface. Another type of carrier is the car seat, which can be strapped to the seat of an automobile using seatbelts available for adult passengers, typically to support the child in a forward facing disposition similar to that of the stroller. However, a more recent automobile seat particularly designed for infants, positions the infant to face rearwardly of the automobile, and is believed safer for small children, e.g. from infancy to perhaps a year old or so.
The ordinary activities of adults caring for small children not only include automobile and pedestrian travel, but frequent transitions between these activities. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide child carriers that are interchangeable for alternative use as strollers and as car seats. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,711 (Dick) discloses three versions of the child seat, each of which functions either as a car seat or a stroller. In one version shown in FIGS. 7-9, a handle can be unlatched to fold or pivot downwardly, thus to cause a link to pivot rear wheel supporting brackets, in turn moving another link which simultaneously pivots the front wheels. Thus, moving the handle forwardly pivots the wheels from a tuck-under car seat disposition to an operative disposition for use of the device as a stroller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,688 (Edwards) discloses a seat utilizing telescoping handle and telescoping wheel supporting legs in connection with the front and rear wheels. Telescoping handles or push bars, in combination with pivotally mounted foward and rearward wheels, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,804 (Johnson) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,054 (Chong). In these cases, however, the wheels pivot separately and are not actuated by movement of the handle. All of these devices, while perhaps suitable for certain applications, tend to be somewhat bulky and complex, requiring too many separate adjustments or involving too many moving linkages and pivots. Moreover, when used as car seats, all of these devices position the child to face forwardly with respect to the automobile.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively lightweight, simple and convenient apparatus adjustable for alternative use as a stroller and as an automobile seat for infants and small children.
Another object of the invention is to provide a child carrier adjustable between alternative positions using a minimum of moving parts to enhance its reliability, convenience and safety.
Another object of the invention is to provide a support apparatus for retrofitting a known, commercially available infant car seat, to facilitate the use of such car seat alternatively as a stroller.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a combination stroller and automobile seat for infants and small children, which, when used as a car seat, positions the child to face rearwardly of the automobile.